The more common form of ear piercing is earlobe piercing, but cartilage piercings are becoming more and more popular among people from all areas of life. Because of the great popularity of these piercing today, earrings are being made especially for cartilage area and these are referred to as cartilage earrings.
The cartilage is that area above the ear lobe, and consists of connective tissue which is harder and thicker than the tissue of the earlobe. Four types of cartilage piercings are available, helix, tragus, orbital and conch piercings.
The helix piercing occurs on the cartilage which curls up on the outside part of the ear. In the standard helix piercing the cartilage is pierced just once. In helix piercing, the cartilage is pierced twice. In the tragus piercing the cartilage area above the earlobe, near the face, is pierced. The orbital piercing will enter and exit the same area of the ear’s cartilage. A conch piercing is done in the cartilage at the middle of ear.
Body piercings should be done ideally by a professional, and the cartilage piercing should only be done by hand. If a piercing gun is used, the cartilage may be shattered and scarring may occur. The cartilage takes from four months to twelve months to heal depending on the thickness of the cartilage pierced.
The initial pair of cartilage earrings selected after cartilage piercing, should be carefully selected and should be a quality pair in gold or sterling silver, and it should be a pair the wearer would be comfortable wearing for up to twelve months. After the cartilage heals, the earrings can be changed. This type of earrings is made of titanium, white gold, yellow gold, surgical steel, and sterling silver. The types of earrings are hoops, captive beads, posts or studs, circular barbells, cuffs and industrial. There are many styles and they will range from punk symbols to more classic gem stones.